Left 4 Dead Bundle

This Coop Mutation is a mashup of "Boomer Shooter" by SR69MMJC and "Spitters!" by Karma Jockey. The only specials are Boomers and Spitters. The only commons are the result of the Boomer. The only other change is we amped up everything about these two Specials. But don’t worry you’ll be okay as long as you avoid all the goo flying in the air.

<b>PAX?</b>
PAX Prime is taking place this year from August 31st to Sept 2nd. It is a great event filled with gaming and gaming culture. While the tickets have already sold out, we are curious to know how many L4D players will be visiting. So the question is simple – will you be attending PAX Prime this year?

This Coop Mutation is a mashup of "Boomer Shooter" by SR69MMJC and "Spitters!" by Karma Jockey. The only specials are Boomers and Spitters. The only commons are the result of the Boomer. The only other change is we amped up everything about these two Specials. But don’t worry you’ll be okay as long as you avoid all the goo flying in the air.

PAX?
PAX Prime is taking place this year from August 31st to Sept 2nd. It is a great event filled with gaming and gaming culture. While the tickets have already sold out, we are curious to know how many L4D players will be visiting. So the question is simple – will you be attending PAX Prime this year?

Seems a trifle odd to be saying this given 2009′s foremost angry internet man-generator was the perceived too-soon release of a sequel to Left 4 Dead, but Valve’s zombathons seem to me to have been left a little fallow of late. Team Fortress 2′s ongoing transformation into QVC, Portal 2′s awards-hogging and fever-pitch speculation about Half Life has been the order of the day for the last couple of years. You could – aheh- say that Left 4 Dead has been – aheh – left for dead. Aheh-heh-heh. Just my little joke, there.

Something is suddenly stirring, however (editor’s note – I really need more elegant alternatives to ‘however’ and ‘though’, which I know full well are often seen to be cludgy writing. Suggestions?>), and it comes not from Valve, but from Payday: The Heist devs and recent Starbreeze acquisition Overkill. (more…)

In many ways, Payday: The Heist is very similar to Left 4 Dead. You team up with three friends, you fend off hordes of enemies and try to stay alive. But, in a few important ways, they're very different. In Left 4 Dead, a throng of zombies are trying to keep you out of a safe room, in Payday, you rob banks, take hostages and mow down legions of cops. According to a post on the Overkill blog, spotted by VG247, the Payday devs are working with Valve on a collaboration that will bring both concepts together.

"We are excited to be able to confirm that an in-depth collaboration between OVERKILL and Valve is currently in production." says Overkill director Ulf Andersson. "We are working on a very cool blend of PAYDAY and Left 4 Dead."

A "cool blend," eh. Time to indiscriminately mash Left 4 Dead and Payday's premises together until something works. Zombies robbing a bank? Survivors robbing a zombie bank? Tanks robbing a bank? Crims robbing a bank staffed by Tanks? This isn't working. What do you think it'll be?

The action-packed brand of high-stakes robbery delivered by Overkill Software's Payday: The Heist might just be pulling off its next job in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

Early this morning, an official statement from Overkill game director Ulf Andersson revealed that the Swedish development team will be working on an "in-depth collaboration" with Valve:

"As perceptive gamers will have noticed, several hints have recently been dropped into PAYDAY The Heist, which has led to various rumors. We are excited to be able to confirm that an in-depth collaboration between OVERKILL and Valve is currently in production.

We are working on a very cool blend of PAYDAY and Left 4 Dead. I am sure it is so exciting that it will have some players check into the hospital before we are done."

It was recently announced that dev studio Starbreeze—makers of this year's Syndicate reboot and the Chronicles of Riddick games—would be acquiring Overkill in a bid to grow their intellectual property portfolio. Originally a PlayStation Network exclusive, Payday is also now available on Steam. Payday debuted on the PlayStation Network and then became available on Steam soon thereafter. No word on when we might expect to see the first look at a Payday/L4D crossover but zombies vs. Bank Thieves… that could actually be fun.

It's all go at Payday: The Heist developer Overkill Software these days. As well as working on a sequel and DLC for its coop crime caper FPS, and being acquired by Starbreeze Studios, the Swedes have revealed they're working with Valve on something Left 4 Dead-y.

"We are excited to be able to confirm that an in-depth collaboration between Overkill and Valve is currently in production," Overkill game director Ulf Andersson said in a statement (via VG247).

"We are working on a very cool blend of Payday and Left 4 Dead. I am sure it is so exciting that it will have some players check into the hospital before we are done."

As for what this'll actually be, who knows? Payday clearly took a few hints from Valve's zombie 'em up, so it wouldn't be too jarring for the worlds to collide. Valve characters often make appearances in other games, but that probably wouldn't meet the "in-depth" requirement. Might that mention of the hospital be a cheeky nod to Left 4 Dead's 'No Mercy' campaign, set around an overrun hospital?

The original group of Starbreeze has three projects in the works itself.

No more fighting over what cans to grab first. This Mutation spawns only one group of cans at a time, so survivors know exactly where to go. There is only one problem: the Infected know exactly where they are going.

This presents a different strategy from regular Scavenge mode and actually tips match in favor of the Infected.

The all-white, incredibly temperamental witch of Left 4 Dead fame is terrifying.

She often feels unavoidable, especially if you're playing online with hyperactive, trigger-happy teammates. The echoes of her haunting cries still terrorize my dreams occasionally. (Seriously, I play *that* much Left 4 Dead.)

She's a little less threatening in these cosplay images, though. At least while she's stuck in the frame and not chasing wildly after you. Does someone have a molotov handy just in case?